This story has had some twists and turns, and has been UPDATED!
Not all music artists regard file sharing as a crime; in fact, some artists view file sharing as a valuable way to gain exposure to new fans and audiences, especially musicians just starting out.
Not all music artists regard file sharing as a crime; in fact, some artists view file sharing as a valuable way to gain exposure to new fans and audiences, especially musicians just starting out.
A group of mainstream artists who disagree with the music labels' steadfast opposition to any sharing at all decided to create a song dedicated to one file sharing service, MegaUpload. The artists gave MegaUpload all the rights and permissions to the song they created. There was no illegal content whatsoever. The point was to make a statement to music labels that artists did not view file sharing as universally evil.
Universal Music's response? Illegal censorship.
Universal filed an illegal takedown notice with YouTube to stop distribution of the song, even though it had no legal right to do so. After a takedown dispute was filed with YouTube, the video was back up - but only for a short time. Now the legal owner of the video, MegaUpload, is being threatened by YouTube with a permanent ban as a repeat infringer. Keep in mind, Universal Music has no legal claim to any content in this video. Their actions are clearly, without question, illegal.
This is what we can expect if content companies are given free reign to silence and censor the Internet with no due process, and why defeating Internet censorship bills is so important.
LINK to full story
UPDATE #2: Universal, in its response to the lawsuit, now claims that it has a private arrangement with Google (which owns YouTube) to take down any video it doesn't like...regardless of whether it has the right or not. LINK
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